Delhi Metro chief unhappy with Airport Metro Express line

NEW DELHI: A year after the Airport Metro Express line opened, Delhi Metro doesn't seem to be happy with the performance of the high-speed corridor. In his first interview to the media, new managing director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) made it clear that Reliance Infrastructure - the concessionaire for the line - wasn't meeting Delhi Metro's expectations. "There are many shortcomings ," admitted Singh.

The frequency of trains, speed of the line, service conditions and even the working style of the concessionaire have not gone down well with Singh. "We have always maintained that services like the Metro cannot be run merely as a profit making business," opined Singh as he rued the low frequency of trains that are endemic to the Airport Metro Express. "If DMRC had been running it, we would have increased the frequency of trains to 6-7 minutes and not tried to look at profits only. At present, the concessionaire runs the frequency based on profitability ," said Singh.

The frequent change of guard on the concessionaire team has also ruffled feathers, it seems. Singh cited the changed team at DAMEPL - over 60% of the original commissioning team has left - as evidence of a high attrition rate. "That also has an impact," said Singh, while admitting that Delhi Metro too had been seeing several employee movements in the recent past.

Regarding the slow speed of trains on the corridor, Singh said, "We cannot insist on an increase in the speed if the concessionaire cites safety concerns for running the trains at a certain speed," said Singh. According to the DMRC chief, RInfra has opted for a slower 80kmph speed on certain stretches of the corridor due to problems with the rail track, which would impact safety considerations . "At certain sections of the corridor rail fittings enable the concessionaire to run trains only at a certain speed. Therefore, we cannot insist that the speed be increased, even if originally the corridor had been designed to run trains at 120kmph," said Singh. Sections where track specifications don't allow high speed are between the airport and Dwarka Sector 21 as well as other pockets, he said.

Singh also said that Delhi Metro had levied one of the highest penalties in India on RInfra for the delay in the launch of Airport Metro Express. "We have levied Rs 60.375 crore, of which Rs 43.375 crore have been recovered," said the MD.

Reacting to the comments, an R-Infra spokesman said, "Being the first high-speed Metro , checks and balances have been put in place to prevent any untoward incident. All issues related to operations are always discussed with DMRC." Calling Airport Metro Express a "professionally run project" that is "at par with international standards" , the spokesman said, "It is our endeavour to extend superlative airport commuting service to the citizens of Delhi ... However, any public private project has to be financially viable. We have a lot of confidence in the long-term viability of this venture. Reliance Metro is committed to running the operations in a smooth and safe manner, providing high quality service to commuters."